World Conquest Online

After speaking with Gan Ning about the Titanaconda’s, Dom headed towards the Clinic to check over those that had been sent from the Subterranean City and Nakbe. The Clinic seemed to have grown, gaining a second floor, which Dom assumed was from the upgrade. The Clinic was now nearing the size of a small Hospital and he wondered if the Clinic would eventually become one if they continued to upgrade it, as it was treated as one now anyway.

The doors were guarded by four Spearmen Forbidden Guard, who stepped aside at the sight of Dom and his two Hoplite Guards. They were an Elite Unit within Riverside and part of Dom felt it was a waste to have half of them as guards for the Capital, but he knew that with them and the wall, Riverside was safe.

The difference from outside to inside was immense, the walls were now painted white and the tiled floor reflected the light that illuminated the building. Dom felt that the interior was almost modern, if not that there was no electricity. The front of the Clinic had a large waiting room, where many people sat across wooden benches waiting, whilst a small group of receptionist worked behind the counter, with large paper made from Reeds that had been gathered in the wetlands to the north of Serenity or purchased by Crassus.

Each member of Riverside and now the other Towns as well, upon arrival would be registered with personal information that was stored in their Town Halls, eventually all dispatched in bulk to Riverside. They also had a smaller record on their first Clinic trip, which covered their medical history or as much as what was in the remit of Hua Tou, Phoebe and Agnodice’s knowledge. This included both the Civilians and the Military Personnel.

"Good Morning Lord Lazarus!" The receptionist welcomed as he entered, surprised by his visit but maintaining a professional attitude, "How can we help you this morning."

"I was looking for General Tomoe and Lady Meritamen please." Dom replied politely, "And Doctor Hua Tou if he is here."

"I believe Lady Meritamen and Doctor Hua Tou are in a meeting currently, I will have one of my colleagues let them know you have arrived." She explained calmly, no hesitation in her voice even though Dom was the Lord. "General Tomoe is currently at the end of the corridor checking on some of the Nakbe survivors, please follow the path marked red and I believe she is in room number eight."

Dom’s eyes were startled at just how modern the Clinic seemed, if Hua Tou had arranged everything as he suspected, then the loss of both him and his journals at the hand of the Warlord Cao Cao were the loss to history that they were recorded to be.

"Thank you!" Dom replied kindly as he followed a red line that was on the tiled floor down the corridor and then around a bend, before seeing several rooms. He found room eight and headed inside. The room wasn’t overly large, having four beds in them, with two on each side and a small space in between to walk. In each bed was a woman, with Tomoe sat on a chair at the bottom of the room, facing Dom as he entered.

A smile appeared on her tired face as he entered. She stood up and walked towards him, wearing loose fitting casual clothes and just one of her swords strapped to her waist. When she reached him, she dropped her usual seriousness and clasped him in a tight hug.

"It’s good to see you." She said seriously, having not seen Dom in several weeks. "You leave us for such a long time, and the first thing we do when you get back is rescue people. It feels like we are Heroes, which is a nice feeling."

"I expect it is better to be the Heroes than the Villains." Dom agreed, however he wasn’t sure they would always be seen that way. Every battle they had done so far had been for the advantage of Riverside, regardless if the meaning behind them was good or bad. Dom wanted to play the game his own way. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"That is the truth." She smiled, "Subutai explained that you are going to deal with the Cove with me. It’s an interesting place from what the scouts have reported. But first, let me introduce you to these ladies here. Ladies, this is the Lord of our Kingdom. Lord, these are Ladies."

In the beds were four young women who all seemed to be in varying degrees of recovery. They were all awake and seemed to have been talking before Dom’s arrival. They were all lay in beds that were of a higher level of quality than expected from this era and covered in thin blankets. Dom could see a lot of bruises on their exposed skin and they all seemed unhealthily underweight.

"Nice to meet you all." Dom replied, understanding that Tomoe was trying to relieve any worries that they may have. "I hope that you are being well cared for. If you have any problems, do not be afraid to speak up, our teams are here to help."

The four women all thanked him, some shyly whilst others seemed a bit more confident. He was glad to see that they all had some form of personality, as that meant the horrors they had gone through hadn’t completely erased them, unlike those found in the cages at Noctus.

"I need to speak with the Lord, but I will come and visit you all again soon." Tomoe said to them all.

"Thank you Lady Tomoe." One of them replied proudly.

"You are our Hero, General Tomoe." Another said as she led Dom from the room. The confident Woman that called Tomoe a Hero emphasising the word as she looked at Dom. He understood the weight of the words as the two of them headed in to the corridor.

"I’m not used to this caring side to you." Dom smiled to Tomoe, who was unusually talkative and her normal bloodlust wasn’t evident.

"They need it and Hua Tou said that my presence could help." She explained, "supposedly they rely on me currently."

Dom didn’t disagree, but he felt that Hua Tou had also given her the caring task to help deal with her own issues. Caring for those she had rescued rather than fighting to clear her frustrations seemed a good form of dealing with her issues for her.

"How have you been?" Dom asked openly.

"It’s good to be back in Riverside, the south has been enjoyable to explore, but I feel with the speed Riverside grows, if you are away too long you miss lots of important things." She replied. Dom didn’t disagree with that point, the city had expanded from a small group of buildings to a sprawling city in a small period of time.

"I don’t disagree with that!" Dom laughed, before turning serious with his tone. "How about after returning from Nakbe, I saw you on the Temple?"

"I haven’t fought like that in a long time, holding a location from the enemy. But, seeing all of the suffering, I knew I had to do something." She explained, her tough exposure showing some cracks. Dom could tell that she was struggling and it felt strange as in his mind she was the toughest in Riverside. However, the suffering in Nakbe and Noctus was something that everyone who had seen it was struggling with.

"You were incredible, without you, things would have been very different." Dom replied as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"I heard you got a new sword!" She laughed, changing the conversation and pushing herself in to the half hug that Dom was giving her. However Dom was interrupted before he had chance to reply.

"If you treat all of your Generals this way, I may get jealous." Meritamen’s voice echoed down the Corridor as her and Hua Tou appeared. Tomoe didn’t leave the half hug and stared at Meritamen, who rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Have you been visiting the patients Lord Lazarus?" Hua Tou asked, interrupting and changing the route of the conversation.

"I intended too, these seem to be recovering, but how are the rest?" Dom asked, his arm removed from Tomoe’s shoulder as the four of them met in the middle.

"There is a large difference, depending on where they were rescued from." Hua Tou explained, "The Women from Noctus are physically in the best way, but mentally they will need support. The men from Noctus are bruised and battered, a lot of anger at the potential of being the next meal. They will also need a lot of support and recovery. Some are missing limbs but they should survive."

"And those from Nakbe?" Dom asked, happy at the positive news so far.

"Bruised, tortured and malnourished." Meritamen replied, taking over. "But they’ll recover, which is more than what can be expected."

"We have lost four of them in transport and a further three since they arrived, but the rest are past the worse." Hua Tou agreed. "Itzel is recovering well too, she has been excited to hear the news that we had rescued her people, unfortunately it seems her brother is not one of them."

"That is a shame, but their brave decision has saved hundreds of lives and potentially hundreds more if they had been left to continue with what they were doing." Dom replied, "What are your next plans?"

"Firstly I need to speak with some of the other leaders, a lot of the recovery needed now isn’t physical but spiritual. Those from Nakbe are religious and I am hoping they have a priestess that is still alive. If not, I will ask Hatshepsut to support." Hua Tou explained, "After that, the next step is to investigate the collection of corpses that are being put aside from me in Noctus. The way they used women for breeding, and the usage of humans for food are both strange occurrences and not something that are easily comprehended."

"I hope you can find some answers." Dom nodded in response to the final statement. "We have received three Temples Buildings from Nakbe and need to make a decision on them."

"I understand your reluctance to use them, but they could be helpful in the healing." He replied.

"The positives do outweigh the risks." Tomoe added, having been quiet since the four of them met in the corridor.

"I agree." Meritamen stated. "Umako and Hatshepsut were hypothetically discussing this the other day. You also have the option of spreading them across the Towns, or having all the temples in one location. Making that location a spiritual place within the Kingdom, making it easier to control. Umako and Hatshepsut had different ideas, but both agreed that a spiritual centre was necessary during our growth"

"That is a good idea." Dom seceded, placing all of the religious buildings in one place, making people travel and it easier to police. He just had to decide if he wanted to use them, and if he did, what City to place them in. His biggest headache then would be on what religion, religions or gods to go for. Part of him agreed with Hatshepsut’s idea of choosing a peaceful Spiritual choice such as the Egyptian Goddess Taweret or similar.

...

After leaving the Clinic, Dom spent the rest of the day inspecting the Town and speaking with a variety of his key Villagers who were working, such as Wang Shu, Lars and Helena. They were all in high spirits at the growth, not only to Riverside but also to their families importance.

Hatshepsut had also used all of the Manor Cubes and there was now a thriving area of homes that could be sold or allocated to the Elite’s of Riverside near the Palace Grounds. Dom suspected that Shang Yang and Lucius would allocate these out rather quickly, to support Crassus’s capitalist plans for the Kingdom. Dom was excited to see how it developed, with agreements that all Citizens would be guaranteed housing and food, but the opportunities to grow.

After travelling around Riverside, he met with Subutai to discuss the preparations for the upcoming Golden Token that they would use upon his return. Gan Ning was going to bring the Galatea, Enyo and Sibylla to Riverside depending on the scope of the Mission. Where as Tomoe, Tomyris and Sun Ce were going to bring their elites in preparation. They had also agreed to keep Xun You, Xun Yu, Crassus and Cicero on standby depending on the type of mission that it was. They also agreed to recall Liao Hua if possible, but would keep all of the deputies in their relevant areas.

After discussing with Subutai, he had a meal with his three Government heads and Meritamen, before heading to bed and logging out.